One of the most familiar faces of Colac’s Kana Festival could take on a new appearance next year.
Organisers hope festival icon Jellybuttons the clown lives on when the woman behind the make-up steps away from the role.
Former Colac woman Jenny Nash, sister of festival organiser Carolyn Phillips, has qualified as a midwife and work commitments mean she will end her nine-year association with Kana tomorrow.
Jellybuttons became a feature in the Kana parade seven years ago, when organisers capitalised on the festival’s logo to create a Kana icon.
A competition to give the clown a name and a visit to dress maker Val Mahoney then gave Jellybuttons an identity.
Ms Nash fell into the role but said the clown had grown a life of its own.
“I think Jellybuttons has become an entity of her own,” Ms Nash said.
“She tends to have her own personality. When I put on the suit I’m not worried about who I am, I’m Jellybuttons.”
Ms Nash said Jellybuttons had inadvertently scared a handful of children over the years but overall Jellybuttons had put a smile on young faces.
“It really has. I’ve got a kick out of lighting up children’s faces and seeing their expressions,” Ms Nash said.
“I actually get recognised out of costume. I used to work at Safeway and a child came up to me and said ‘oh Mum, it’s Jellybuttons’ and I was in a work uniform,” she said.
Ms Nash said Jellybuttons needed to continue to ensure Kana had a recognisable icon.
But she suggested a new outfit for the clown.
“I said this to Carolyn the other day. If someone was to dress up in the suit and say they’re Jellybuttons, I think the children would recognise they’re not,” Ms Nash said.
“I think it’s something that has to be discussed at a committee level. I think it’d be a shame if it was the end of a Kana mascot,” she said.
Ms Phillips praised her sister’s efforts building Jellybuttons’ prominence.
“It’s very sad for us, to see her leave the suit but we’re so proud of her achievements,” Ms Phillips said.
“She’s taken the clown from an idea into a realisation. That’s a rare thing,” she said.
The Kana parade kicks off at 1pm but a Fair in the Square will be at Memorial Square from 10am.
The theme for this year’s Kana Festival is A Space Odyssey.
Kana Parade float order: Colac Car Club, Jellybuttons the clown and Kana, Colac City Band, Colac Otway Shire Council citizens of the year, Country Women’s Association Polwarth group, Spy Kids, St Brendan’s Primary School, Bec’s Mobile Dog Wash, Swan Marsh Primary School, Jan Murray and her donkey, Regal Cream, OCR FM, Otway Calisthenics, Colac South West Primary School, Otway Plains Scout Group, Colac West Primary School, Meeting Place, Rhys Evans, Otway Community College, Elliminyt Primary School, Marlene’s Jazz It Up, Colac Primary School, Colac Speedway Club, Ambulance, Country Fire Authority, Police.

FAREWELL: Jenny Nash will lead Colac’s Kana Festival parade as Jellybuttons the clown for the last time tomorrow.